| 1. |
- Frichot, Hélène, 1970-
(author)
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On the Becoming-Indiscernible of the Diagram in Societies of Control
- 2014
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 5:1, s. 1-14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A diagram is a technology for thinking that secures an understanding of not just the static relations between the components that compose an architectural or urban space, but more importantly, the dynamic movements and potential for transformation of local environments, including the behaviour and habits that emerge between environment and inhabitant. The deployment of diagrams in a design and/or consultancy process can operate to analyse a pre-existing situation, as well as to speculate on how a near future can be spatially predicted, managed, and even controlled. In other words, the diagram can be both critical and projective. Nevertheless, what tends to be assumed is that the diagram is predominantly a graphic tool and that for the most part it translates ideas immediately and unproblematically, securing a clear path between concrete context and abstract idea. Even when a shift in emphasis is undertaken from the diagram as legible graphic object to a diagrammatics understood as an ongoing and open process that enables the transformation of peoples, places, and things, what tends to be forgotten are the less visible, non-discursive, and affective deployments of the diagram. As Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault have demonstrated, a diagram is also a site of struggle pertaining to the distribution of power relations as a composition or decomposition of forces. It follows that a diagram, conceived as diagrammatic process, has political implications. This essay tracks a brief journey following the vicissitudes of the dynamic diagram as it has been taken up in the theory and practice of architecture from the 1990’s onwards, and speculates on how far the diagram as diagrammatic process is wittingly and unwittingly used toward the management of contemporary societies of control. The becoming-indiscernible of the diagram in societies of control is the threshold beyond which the outlines of the human subject as project begins to dissipate, a moment of either terrifying dissolution, or else a point beyond which there might open new opportunities for other kinds of diagrams and other processes of subjectification.
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| 2. |
- Frykholm, Hannes, 1982-
(author)
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Staging the Intermission
- 2017
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London. - 2044-7507. ; 7:2, s. 165-178
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 3. |
- Heyman, Axel, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Distances, accessibilities and attractiveness; looking at new approaches to include measures of urban form in hedonic pricing modelling
- 2016
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 6:2, s. 213-224
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The population of Oslo increases rapidly and the corresponding demand of housing is an issue of great public, political and professional interest. Today, we can see several interesting discrepancies in the housing market, such as very high prices for dwellings with low technical standards and dwellings located in neighbourhoods very different from those planned and built today. There is a great diversity in the housing households’ willingness to pay. What are the patterns of such attractiveness in more detail and what might be the lessons to learn concerning what to build in the future? How can we plan and build housing that responds to the wide range of contemporary demands and that will also be attractive in decennials to come? Economists and real estate businesses provide statistics on prices of dwellings, but the variables examined are usually too general for the results to be useful for actual planning and design. However, space syntax based research has shown that locations in cities can be measured more specifically and that analyses of these measurements correlate with numerous phenomenon related to activities and attractiveness of cities. By applying space syntax based measurements in GIS, comparing housing prices with presumed relevant variables of buildings and neighbourhoods by means of hedonic regression analysis, it is possible to seize new knowledge about how specific urban form variables of buildings and neighbourhoods correlate with housing prices. By this approach, willingness to pay for dwellings has been examined in two studies in Stockholm and Copenhagen. This paper presents methods and some result of these studies. In brief, we see that continuous urban form measurements in GIS are significant for willingness to pay for dwellings. The specificity of these measurements achieved by GIS analyses, applying the Place Syntax Tool, provides new and more detailed knowledge in this field.
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| 4. |
- Koch, Daniel, 1976-
(author)
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Architecture Re-Configured
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London : University College London. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 1-16
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The question of what differentiates architecture and building has been raised many times in Architecture Theory, with various responses or explanations – usually under the precondition that architecture is something more. It is one of the core questions of architecture theory. Inherent in the discussion seems to be how architecture becomes socially significant and how it conveys meaning. Continuing this line of inquiry, this paper examines how and why spatial configuration lies at the heart of architectural design and explores how and why space syntax research contributes to architecture per se. This is argued using a small set of socio-spatial figures commonly used in architectural design that formulate positions and situations based on discrepancies between configurative relations of visibility and accessibility. It is finally suggested that the conscious manipulation of these discrepancies is a core aspect of architectural design.
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| 5. |
- Koch, Daniel, 1976-
(author)
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Changing Building Typologies : The typological question and the formal basis of architecture
- 2014
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London : University College London. - 2044-7507. ; 5:2, s. 168-189
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The call for this themed issue formulates an interesting proposition, one that is a common conception – that people’s behaviour and, accordingly, the use of buildings is changing – and that this leads to the emer- gence of new building typologies. More specifically, it claims that ‘the reality of what is happening inside buildings nowadays is much more complex, diverse and multi-layered than a single word can describe.’ This paper intends to challenge the word ‘nowadays’, which places this situation as something historically unique and special. It will do this in order to conclude with a discussion of theory of analysing architecture.The first question to be examined is historical. While it may be true that building use is currently changing rapidly, it is equally true that this has happened before. Some of the most common ‘types’ are in fact under constant change, and this will be illustrated through the ‘shop’ and the ‘home’, concluded by a discussion on the perception of rapid change and historical stability as such. It will be suggested that this is partially embedded in a typological process. The second question is theoretical. It will be argued that the very idea of changing and more flexible use is tied to an idea of architecture with its roots in modernity, where ‘use’ became a central question to plan for, along with the development of a specific notion of function that was intimately connected to the notion of type. Many earlier ‘types’ were not as much use-adapted as ‘appropriate types’ for a range of reasons, sometimes even contrary to ‘use’. This discussion will explore the interdependency between conceptions of type and perceptions of the theoretical, disciplinary, and practical bases of architecture.Following this, the paper will conclude by drawing the strands together to discuss architectural analysis and the risks and potentials of typology as an analytical operation.
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| 6. |
- Koch, Daniel, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Models and diagrams in architectural design
- 2014
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London : University College London. - 2044-7507. ; 5:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this issue is to contribute to the integration and communication between space syntax specifically, and architectural theory and practice in general. This aim comes both from a desire from our side, and a perceived potential for inspiring and rewarding contributions and developments from and to all sides in such an integration. This is neither a necessary nor obvious aim for space syntax research, but a potential that we would like to explore and a path we would like to see taken. However, we do think this aim comes with a range of consequences and questions to address, and the purpose of this issue is to contribute to address-ing some of these consequences and questions through its focus on diagrams and models, which forms only one, albeit arguably a crucial, part of such an endeavour. In stating it in this way, we do not mean to say that other steps have not been taken; it is a way to frame the topic of the issue that explains its intents in a clear manner.
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| 7. |
- Koch, Daniel, 1976-
(author)
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Sophia Psarra's Architecture and Narrative : The formation of space and cultural meaning
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - : UCL. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 246-248
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Review (other academic/artistic)abstract
- (first paragraph of the review:)Architecture and Narrative: the formation of space and cultural meaning, looks at how meaning isconstructed in buildings and how it is communicated to the viewer. It does so by studying narrative through a series of contrasting studies, framing the question of narrative slightly differently in eachstudy. This gives the opportunity to study narrative not only from different perspectives, but in different historical periods. The book is not, however, a historical study of narrative in architecture but focuses on modernity - a limitation that seems to mostly have been for the better. It further focuses primarily on cultural buildings, and more specifically on museums. In a sense, this makes it a continuation of the discussions in Thomas A. Marcus Buildings & Power, which leaves off at the end of the 19th century. Nevertheless, Psarra's point of departure takes on the broad sweep of history. Thus, the first part of the book consists of a study of the Parthenon and the Erectheon, followed by an investigation of Mies' Barcelona Pavilion; the second part deals with architecture and narrative in literature through two chapters focusing on literary works of the 20th century by the Argentinean author Jean Luis Borges; the third part studies narrative in museums of history and art in a more or less chronological order; ending up with the fourth part which constitutes a theoretical synthesis and conclusion.
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| 8. |
- Kärrholm, Mattias
(author)
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In search of building types : On visitor centers, thresholds and the territorialisation of entrances
- 2016
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 7:1, s. 55-70
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to contribute to an actantial approach to building type studies through a study of the visitor centre and its role in contemporary spatial production. The article takes its empirical departure in the (from a Swedish perspective) intense urbanization of the Scania region, in the southern part of Sweden. Looking at building types in terms of actants implies that different sets of buildings can be abstracted in different ways (and not just in terms of form or function) depending on the effect they have in a certain situation. The proliferation of visitor centers in Scania is by no means an innocent development, these centers have a part to play (an actant role) in the urbanization process of the region. In this article I discuss this role as a kind threshold actant or type, which I further divide into four different subcategories in order to show connections with other sorts of spaces in the urban landscape. The discussion is then used both to highlight the role of visitor centers in recent processes of urbanization, and to argue for a more open-ended, relational and pragmatic approach to building types studies
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| 9. |
- Kärrholm, Mattias
(author)
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Space Syntax and Meta Theory
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 251-253
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 10. |
- Legeby, Ann, 1972-
(author)
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From Housing Segregation to Integration in Public Space : A Space Syntax Approach Applied on the City of Södertälje
- 2010
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In: The Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 92-107
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, urban design and town planning is rarely addressed in anti-segregation initiatives. Architectural issues have more or less been confined to matters regarding housing policy. Although segregation is an inherently spatial concept, its spatial dimension is analysed using quite simple spatial models and weak theories on the relation between spatial and social phenomena, methods that provide few analytical insights from an urban design perspective. The Swedish cityscape is to a large extent characterized by post war development, strongly influenced by neighbourhood planning ideas.What is conspicuous in many of these areas is the extreme segregation of public space and that many neighbourhoods are relatively spatially isolated from the city as a whole. Since prevailing approaches are giving weak guidance for urban design there will be an attempt in this paper to in part reconceptualise the issue and possible generate new ideas on how to approach segregation within urban design.This paper investigates how configurational theories and methods can contribute to more nuanced descriptions of spatial relations within different neighbourhoods and in the city as a whole. If social segregation is related to segregation in public space it is essential to capture the configurational properties in a highly tangible way. The result shows that the space syntax approach has the ability to shed light on essential configurational differences between neighbourhoods and that these spatial descriptions give valuble insight regarding how urban form influences the spatial advantages that different areas afford. This opens for new possibilities for how policies in urban design can address the segregation problem that could be articulated with more efficient anti-segregation interventions, both on a neighbourhood level and on a city level.
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| 11. |
- Marcus, Lars, 1962-, et al.
(author)
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Architectural Knowledge and Complex Urban Space : Analysis of Five Proposals for Slussen in Stockholm
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 177-198
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents, compares and evaluates five design proposals for remodelling the famous, or as some would say infamous, Slussen transport interchange in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Slussen is strategically located where the locks between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea meet the land bridge between northern and southern Sweden. It is now a major hub for Stockholm's road, bus, boat, rail and underground transport systems, which in 1935 was redesigned as integrated transport node in the modernist style. This has now become so physically deteriorated and obsolete that a series of proposals were put forward during the opening years of the new millennium for its complete remodelling. As a contribution to that exercise, the urban design practice Spacescape was commissioned to analyse and evaluate the likely performance of the various regeneration proposals for Slussen, using methodologies based on space syntax theory and other methods, in order to predict the likely outcome of each proposal on Stockhlom's urban life. In what follows, projects by Atelier Nouvel and Habiter Autrement, Big, Foster and Partners and Berg, Nyréns and finally Wingårdh and Tema have been compared and evaluated in the light of the goals set out in Stockholm's comprehensive city plan.
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| 12. |
- Marcus, Lars, 1962-
(author)
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Balancing quantitative analysis and social concern
- 2012
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 3:1, s. 5-6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rereading Julienne Hanson’s ‘Urban transformations: A history of design ideas’, published in Urban Design International in 2000, one is immediately reminded of Hanson’s versatile research work that apart from extensive studies on urban issues, also includes major contributions to the research on buildings, architectural history and design methodology, which all are distinctly present in ‘Urban transformations’. As a matter of fact, this article can to equal degrees be characterised as a piece of original architectural history, a contribution to analytical methodology, a broad and thorough empirical study of the social implications of housing estates in the UK, or as a critical reflection in design methodology. This is a pattern recognisable in many articles by Hanson, why one is also reminded of the unfortunate fact that there are several such broad and well-investigated themes of hers that so far have not been realised in full-length books.
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| 13. |
- Marcus, Lars, 1962-, et al.
(author)
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Guest Editorial : Journal Of Space Syntax (JOSS)
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London : University College London. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. vi-x
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- When we, as guest editors of the first, special issue of the Journal of Space Syntax, were first asked to centre the selection of papers around the work of our own research group and the 'Scandinavian perspective', our reaction was not only humble surprise but also a certain amount of scepticism. While the request was flattering, there is so much high quality space syntax research ongoing throughout the world - as indeed the 7th Symposium showed - that the whole idea seemed alien to us. There are also several researchers using space syntax in Scandinavia outside of our research group, so we cannot claim to represent 'Scandinavian space syntax research'. Yet, after some consideration we agreed to do it, not because we feel we are the strongest or best in the field, but because of how we have come to regard the field and its current development, where we in Stockholm can serve as one of many examples of a process we think is positive, promising, and exciting. Much of this has to do with the emergence of local research groups, with their own styles and interpretations generated in part by how space syntax theory and method engages with local conditions such as new contexts, traditions, problems, and cultures. We believe it is a strength of the field that there are several emerging 'hubs' of space syntax research, and that these can be recognised not only by their selection of empirical cases but by how they seem to define 'space syntax'. In this sense, even if we cannot represent 'Scandinavian space syntax research', we can serve as an example of how space syntax is modulated as it enters a Scandinavian context. For this reason, in order to continue this line of discussion, it may serve best to begin with trying to briefly map out our context, before returning to the question of concurrent knowledge production and why local communities are of specific interest in the present situation.
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| 14. |
- Marcus, Lars, 1962-
(author)
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Spatial Capital : A Proposal for an Extension of Space Syntax into a More General Urban Morphology
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 30-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although space syntax is often presented as a configurational theory of architecture, this tends to hide the more fundamental claim that it is also an analytical theory, a theory based on analytical science rather than on the normative or ideological claims normally found in architectural theory. This article proposes an extension of such an analytical theory in the context of urbanism by using space syntax areas in urban morphology that earlier have not been directly part of space syntax analysis. If one allows for some simplification, one can say that the main variable of urban form analysed in space syntax is accessibility. This article introduces two other variables: density and diversity. Density, the dominating variable in geographic analysis of urban space, is fundamental for the development of knowledge about urban space and in the practice of urban planning. Diversity, at least since Jane Jacob’s writing of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, has been another focus for urban analysis and urban planners, yet one that has proven to be more difficult to address. A study of an urban area in Stockholm identified three convincing correlations: 1.) a correlation between integration and movement; 2.) a correlation between accessible building density and population; and 3.) a correlation between accessible plots and diversity indices such as number of age groups and lines of businesses. Whereas the first correlation is not very surprising in the context of space syntax research and the second correlation is interesting mostly because of its original measuring technique, the third correlation must be considered surprising and an original finding. The present study proposes that the three ways to measure the three variables accessibility, density and diversity could be combined into a more general analytical theory of urban form, directly stemming from space syntax analysis, significantly widening the scope of space syntax into a more general urban morphology. In addition, it is proposed that these measurements capture something that can be called spatial capital, that also can engage adjacent scientific disciplines.
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| 15. |
- Marcus, Lars, 1962-
(author)
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The architecture of knowledge for educations in Urban Planning and Design
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space Syntax. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 214-229
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The professional fields of urban planning and design are today facing challenges earlier unimagined. This call for a deeper understanding of the knowledge base of these professions, both when it comes to their central knowledge objects and their inherent knowledge process. Taking the development of a new master's course in urban planning and design at KTH in Stockholm as a point of departure, this article tries to do this by, on the one hand, extending on Bill Hillier's concept “the common language of space” as an intermediate between different professions in the field, and, on the other, design as a common work process for these professions. As also outlined by Hillier, this process is characterised by bringing together different forms of knowledge, such as generative and analytic knowledge, to which is added discursive knowledge. Taken together, it is proposed that they, both for practice and research, form the architecture of knowledge for the field.
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| 16. |
- Markhede, Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Spatial Positioning Tool : Background, prototype software and some correlation data
- 2010
-
In: Journal of Space Syntax. - London : UCL. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 149-163
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Spatial Positioning Tool (SPOT) is an isovist-based spatial analysis software written in Java that works as a stand-alone program. SPOT differs from regular Space syntax software as it can produce integration graphs and intervisibility graphs from a selection of positions. SPOT was originally developed for a series of field studies on building interiors highly influenced by organizations and social groups. These studies needed a tool that could produce graphs using a specific position as starting point for the isovists. Now, we have developed SPOT as in several steps, although this paper focuses mainly on the first iteration. In this version, basic SPOT operations use selected positions to create isovist sets. The sets can be colour-coded and layered; the layers can be activated and made visible by being turned on or off. At this point, there are two graphs produced in SPOT, the isovist overlap graph that shows intervisibility between overlapping isovist fields and the network integration analysis built on visibility relations. The graphs for correlation studies are made using workstations as the origins for the isovists. We use data from an office case study regarding face-to-face interaction. The software aims to be used as a fast and interactive sketch tool as well as a precise analysis tool. Data, images, and diagrams can be exported for use in conjunction with other CAD or illustration programs. The first stage of development is to have a functioning prototype with the implementation of all the basic algorithms and a minimal basic functionality with respect to user interaction. We will also briefly discuss recent developments of SPOT, and we furthermore provide a theoretical background for its development.
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| 17. |
- Steen, Jesper, 1945-, et al.
(author)
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Spatial and social configurations in offices
- 2010
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In: Journal of Space syntax. - London : UCL. - 2044-7507. ; 1:1, s. 121-132
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The strength of space syntax is the potential to describe the interplay between spatial configurationand social behaviour; however, there are some important differences between the space syntax foundon the urban level and on the building level. In studies of offices, we have found that integrationvalues do not explain the pattern of movements and the positions of interaction. The average interactionfrequency is just the same for workstations in different positions and in different office conceptsdespite the fact that many “spontaneous” interactions occur when people pass workstations. Althoughthere are some spatial explanations for this homogeneity (the studied offices are shallow systems bothwhen it comes to cellular and to open plan offices), interaction follows organisational borders in anopen plan office as these borders act as if they were walls: almost no interaction crosses the departmentborders in spite of some units being spatially well-integrated. Obviously, the spatial influence inthese offices is weak when it comes to encouraging spontaneous interaction across organisationalborders. In fact, much of the so-called spontaneous interaction is programmed, even if it is not scheduled.Clearly, visibility is important for social behaviour; we found that office workers have mostfrequent interaction with nearby and visible co-workers. To some extent, this is an effect of placingpeople according to the organisation scheme, but still - as we know that work processes in offices arelargely formed by context, so this “use” of the neighbours is also an effect of seeing each other everyday. We also noted that openness is more problematic when it comes to sound. Many people aredisturbed by talking in open plan offices and one conclusion is that work dominated by “long questions”suffers from this conversational overhearing, while work dominated by “short questions” hasthe possibility to balance the negative effects. There is a need both for new office design and formanagement strategies that combine spatial and social configurations in a more conscious way. Thefindings presented in this paper are from studies of seven offices/companies with a total of about1500 office workers.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
- Westin, Sara
(author)
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‘To know is to know one’s geometry’ : Reflections on the problem of inference in space syntax from the viewpoint of a human geographer
- 2015
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In: Journal of space syntax. - London : University College London. - 2044-7507. ; 6:1, s. 1-18
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reflects upon the theory and method of space syntax from the perspective of the discipline of human geography. It does so in order to address the question: what is problematic about space syntax from a social scientific point of view? In this context the paper seeks to answer a second question: what is new – indeed revolutionary – about space syntax? The discussion contrasts space syntax with mainstream architectural/planning practice, with examples taken from current urban planning projects in Sweden.
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